System and method to determine broadband transport performance data

ABSTRACT

A system and method of determining broadband transport performance data are provided. The system includes an input to receive a request including a telephone number corresponding to a broadband data transport element. The system also includes logic to map the telephone number to a port address of network equipment associated with the broadband data transport element. The system further includes a performance analysis tool to determine performance information associated with the broadband data transport element.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

The present application is a continuation application of and claimspriority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/761,141 filed on Jan.20, 2004 now U.S. Pat. 7,362,713, which is expressly incorporated hereinby reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present application relates to a system and method of determiningbroadband transport performance data.

BACKGROUND

Historically, telephone facilities and the services provided over thetelephone facilities had little in common. Today, asynchronous digitalsubscriber line (ADSL) is a service of an internet service provider(ISP) delivered over specialized ADSL network equipment that is in partowned by two other entities: the data service provider and the incumbentlocal exchange carrier (LEC). When the ADSL services does not work, theresolution of the problem may be tackled by three independent workgroups: one belonging to each of the ISP, the owner of the datafacilities (ASI), and the owner of the LEC access facilities. Theentities perform their functions without recourse to a common set ofperformance data or analysis tools. This causes an inefficient processof trouble resolution, and has a negative impact on service downtime,leading to frustrated customers.

The telephone company personnel generally use a handheld modem testerpositioned on the customer's circuit to test the line and gatherperformance data. This testing requires service disruption, dispatch ofa technician to a customer's premises. The raw performance data requiresanalytical modeling to reduce the complex information to practical use.

ISP personnel had information about their internet servers but not aboutthat portion of the circuit from the customer premises equipment (ADSLmodem) to the transport facility point of handoff. While the dataservice provider has access to certain databases, this providertypically has limited availability to analyze real time data usinganalytical software tools. Accordingly, there is a need for an improvedsystem and method of accessing and processing DSL data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a system for accessing DSLdata.

FIG. 2 is a general diagram of a screen shot that illustratesperformance data that may be displayed on a user terminal.

FIG. 3 is a general diagram of a screen shot of a line analysis display.

FIG. 4 is a general diagram of a screen shot of a line code violationdata display.

FIG. 5 is a general diagram of an input screen for a user.

FIG. 6 is a general diagram of a screen shot of a line card display.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart that illustrates a particular embodiment of amethod of accessing and displaying DSL data.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart that illustrates another particular embodiment ofa method of accessing and displaying DSL data.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart that illustrates another particular embodiment ofa method of accessing and displaying DSL data.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring to FIG. 1, a DSL network management system having applicationintranet and extranet user interfaces is illustrated. The systemincludes a first server, such as a resource center web server 104 havingan input 170 with respect to an extranet 106. The system also includes asecond server, such as a telephone number to port mapping server 102 anda plurality of regional servers 120, 122, 124, 126. The system furtherincludes a plurality of digital subscriber line access multiplexer(DSLAM) management units 140, 142, 144, 146. Each of the DSLAMmanagement units is coupled to a plurality of DSLAM equipment units,such as DSLAM equipment 150-164 as illustrated. In a particularembodiment, the DSLAM equipment supports a plurality of digitalsubscriber line (DSL) broadband communication links to end customerpremises. The DSL links supported by the DSLAMs typically cover adiverse geographical area, such as across many states. For example, theparticular illustrated system may include over six thousand DSLAMscovering over two million ADSL lines across thirteen different states.

The telephone number (TN) to port mapping server 102 is coupled to theresource center web server 104 via an intermediate firewall 180. Theresource center web server 104 is coupled to the extranet ISP usersystem 106 via a firewall 182. The resource center web server 104provides performance analysis data which may be displayed to theextranet ISP user via extranet ISP user system 106. The port mappingserver 102 includes logic to provide an extensible markup language (XML)interface 172 to external application clients 110. The port mappingserver 102 also provides a telephone number interface 174 and access toperformance analysis to intranet users 108. The port mapping server 102is further coupled to and responsive to provisioning database 112 andthe network discovery and synchronization process module 114. The portmapping server 102 includes stub web servers and has access to a primaryand secondary database to perform the telephone number to port mappingand performance analysis functions. An example database is implementedas an SQL type database. Server 102 is coupled to the regional servers120-126 via firewall 184. Each of the regional servers 120-126 includesskeleton code and includes a data collection engine. Each regionalserver is coupled to a respective DSLAM management module via acommunication line, such as TL1 line, labeled 178.

During system operation, an input telephone number is received at theresource center web server 104, from the extranet ISP user system 106. Atelephone number is then passed to the port mapping server 102 acrossfirewall 180 and is received at the stub web server. The stub web serverperforms a database query such as an SQL query, to the database unitswhich perform telephone number to port mapping. The DSL multiplexeraddress port corresponding to the particular telephone number receivedis then provided by the database to logic within the stub portion of theport mapping server 102.

The port address is then provided across firewall 184 to a designatedregional server that supports a particular DSLAM having the selectedport address. The port address is provided to the appropriate regionalserver and the regional server then communicates the port address acrossthe communication link to the respective DSLAM management unit. Forexample, where the selected regional server that supports the DSLAMmatching a DSL line having the input telephone number is regional server120, the port address is then provided to the DSLAM management unit 140which then performs real time data collection of the performance of theassociated DSL line, such as a DSL line supported by DSLAM 150. Afterthe performance test is performed and real time data for the DSL linewith the selected port address is collected at the DSLAM unit 140, thecollected data is then received at the collection engine within theregional server 120 and is passed back to the port mapping server 102for reporting to the appropriate user. For example, the raw datacollected from regional server 120 may be processed by performanceanalysis tools and then the resulting processed and analyzed data may bereported to either application clients 110 intranet users 108, orextranet ISP users via extranet ISP user system 106.

In another method of operation, newly provisioned telephone numbers areset-up. In this example, where the telephone number matches a DSL linethat needs to be provisioned, the stub web server within port mappingserver 102 makes a query to the provisioning database 112 to provide anewly provisioned telephone number. The newly provisioned telephonenumber has a matching port address which is then provided to theappropriate regional server and the provisioning instructions as well asthe port address are then provided to the respective DSLAM whichprovides the actual provisioning of the DSL circuit. A report on theprovisioning and results of provisioning tests are then collected at thecollection engine within the regional server and the provisioning reportis then processed and provided to respective users, such as extranetusers, intranet users, or application client users.

An example of a DSL performance report that may be provided to a user ofthe system described in FIG. 1, is shown with respect to FIG. 2. Forexample, a report 200 that provides a real time loop performanceanalysis includes a report for a particular telephone number 202 and DSLline attributes 204 that were collected with respect to a port addressmatching or corresponding to the telephone number 202. An example of thedata displayed includes a DSL performance matrix, bit-rate transferspeeds, and data transfer bit errors.

Referring to FIG. 3, another illustrative report 300 is shown. Thereport 300 is a DSL line analysis report that includes DSL parameterssuch as the particular ADSL line telephone number, downstream andupstream speed, downstream and upstream bit errors as well as othertesting parameters, such as loop length, bridge taps, and pilot tone.

Referring to FIG. 4, another illustrative report 400 is shown. Thereport 400 illustrates DSL line code violations and error second rates.The line code violations and error second report includes downstreamline code violations 402, upstream line code violations 404, downstreamerror seconds 406, and upstream error seconds 408.

Referring to FIG. 5, an input screen is shown that may be provided to auser interface such as an ISP user interface provided via extranet ISPuser system 106. A particular input screen 500 allows an operator toenter a telephone number 502 and user ID 504 into the system and toprovide reporting text 506 on a particular line condition, For example,an operations technician may identify a particular error on a DSL line,such as the indicated burst error with respect to the telephone number502.

Referring to FIG. 6, another illustrative report 600 is shown, thereport 600 includes circuit information for a particular DSL line, suchas particular circuit card selected 606, DSL card information 602, andport information 604. The report 600 also includes additionalinformation regarding a DSL line such as a port legend 610 and aparticular circuit card legend 608. The report 600 is an example of areport of analyzed data that was collected in real time and provides ananalysis for preferred presentation to an operator or user. Analyticaltools may be used to help process the information retrieved and topresent a user-friendly view of relevant data for the technicaloperator.

Referring to FIG. 7, a particular illustrative method of operation forthe system of FIG. 1 is shown. A requested telephone number is received,at 702. A requested telephone number corresponds to a particular digitalsubscriber line (DSL) element. The telephone number is mapped to a portaddress for a digital subscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAM) that isin communication with the DSL element. The DSL element is locatedremotely from the DSLAM. An interrogation request to the port address ofthe DSLAM is then sent to interrogate the DSL element, at 704. Rawperformance for the DSL element is collected in response to theinterrogation request, at 706. The raw performance data collected forthe DSL element is then converted to analyzed performance data, at 708.The analyzed performance data may be displayed, as shown in 710.Optionally, the raw performance data collected may be processed andanalyzed to identify faulty operation indicators with respect to the DSLline, as shown at step 712. Examples of faulty operation indicatorsinclude bridge tap faults, single frequency interference faults, anddisturber circuit faults. These faulty operation indicators typicallycorrespond to conditions that reduce the data rate of the DSL line andsuch faulty operation indicators are often useful metrics to be reportedto operations personnel.

Referring to FIG. 8, another illustrative method of operation is shown.A requested telephone number is received, at 802. The requestedtelephone number corresponds to a particular DSL line. The telephonenumber received is then mapped to a port address associated with networkequipment that supports the DSL line, at step 804. The DSL line elementis located remotely from the network equipment. At step 806, aprovisioning status request is sent to the port address to interrogatethe DSL line element. Real-time provisioning data of the DSL element isthe collected in response to the interrogation request, at step 808. Thereal-time provisioning data is analyzed to provide provisioning statusdata, as shown at step 810. The provisioning status data may then bedisplayed on a report, at step 812. In the illustrated embodiment, aport number is communicated from a server to a regional server prior tothe provisioning status request. As shown at step 814, the port numberbeing communicated to a regional server is useful where the system is adiverse system covering a wide geographical area. The regional servermay send a data request to the network management system coupled to thenetwork equipment, as shown at step 816,

An example of the provisioning status data is a condition such aspowered on, powered off, attempt to synchronize and end synchronization.The provisioning status data provided by the method illustrated in FIG.8, may include provisioning parameters, such as equipment port status,cross connect stats, alarm status, and in-service status. In aparticular embodiment, the provisioning data may be pulled with respectto many deployed network equipment elements to cross check provisionedassignment data used regarding telephone number to port mapping. Fieldconfigurations of the deployed network equipment may be verified.

In a particular embodiment, the requested telephone number may bereceived via a web browser interface provided by a gateway server andthe telephone number may be mapped to the port address by a broadbandserver that is responsive to a gateway server. The broadband server mayuse an extensible mark-up (XML) language interface to an applicationclient server. The application client server may have access to thebroadband server and to a user of the web browser via a common set ofsoftware tools with respect to provisioning status data.

In another illustrative embodiment, a first entity uses the web browserinterface while a second entity is using the client application forconcurrent operation of the broadband server and access of networkequipment data. The first entity may be an internet service provider(ISP) and the second entity may be a local exchange carrier, such as anoperator of a telephony switch network. Referring to FIG. 8, ahistorical log file may be created to record historical trouble eventsand user comments, as shown at 818. The log file is accessible to aplurality of operational personnel working groups, such as via theintranet user interface. The operations of scheduling and launching anautomated routine to poll the provisioning data of the distributednetwork elements is shown, at step 820. Thus, an automated routine witha scheduled application may be deployed using a computer-based system toprovide for updated provisioning status data and real time datacollection of provisioning status data.

Referring to FIG. 9, another illustrative method of operation is shown.A telephone number is received via a browser input in response to a dataservice subscriber problem investigation request, at step 902. Thetelephone number corresponds to a broadband data transport element. Thetelephone number is mapped to a port address for network equipment thatis associated with the broadband data transport element, at 904. Aninterrogation request to the port address is sent to interrogate thenetwork equipment in order to retrieve real time performance data of thebroadband data transport element, as shown at step 906. Raw performancedata is collected for the broadband data transport element in responseto the interrogation request, at 908. Raw performance data collected isthen converted to analyze performance data using a set of analysisrules, at 910. Analyzed performance data is then displayed, at 912, andthe performance data may optionally be processed further to identifyfault conditions of the broadband data transport element, as shown atstep 914. The identified fault conditions may also be displayed in anoperations report via a web browser user interface or other userinterface, In a particular embodiment, the broadband transport elementis a data modem, such as an asynchronous digital subscriber line (ADSL)modem, The raw performance data is collected while the transport elementremains in operation. By performing data collection while the transportelements remain in operation, downtime maintenance is advantageouslyreduced.

The disclosed system and method provides for automated remote collectionof performance data directly from network elements and a method foranalysis of training session data to determine indications of faultconditions. The disclosed system and method provides access to real timedata and real-time data analysis tools for operations personnel. Thesystem disclosed presents a network architecture of servers thatcooperatively support different working group access to ADSLprovisioning and performance data using a common set of analyticaltools. The system provides for a user-friendly web browser interface forsystem access and shared methods for interacting with the system byvarious working groups. Data is extracted from production ADSL equipmentin real-time with respect to particular ADSL telephone numbers. Networkequipment configuration information is also provided to operationspersonnel to assist in resolving circuit performance provisioningissues. Examples of circuit provisioning parameters that may be observedby various working groups includes ADSL equipment port status, ATMcross-connect status or alarms status, in service, or out of servicedata.

The system also provides features such as traffic flow control that isinstituted to reduce operational overload conditions. The systemprovides for a basic inquiry identified by a telephone number that istied to provisioning flows and maintenance via a remote automatedsystem. In addition, the system polices the accuracy of its telephonenumber look-up database by polling network equipment on a periodicbasis, such as daily or weekly, to cross-check the provisionedassignment with actual field configurations. In addition, the system maysupport thousands of real-time users over a geographically diverse areaand features a historical log that is tagged by telephone numbers thatmay be accessed by working groups to record historical trouble events orpass along other operator comments. Further, the system supports amethod of operation that is automated and provides for performancemeasurements without requiring special test equipment or specialpersonnel dispatch to the field for analysis. Real-time collection andanalysis rules may be used beneficially to discover line problems at anearly point of detection to reduce service impact. Reducing reliance onon-site technicians allows the system to support management at acentralized site that covers a wide range of area.

The above disclosed subject matter is to be considered illustrative, andnot restrictive, and the appended claims are intended to cover all suchmodifications, enhancements, and other embodiments which fall within thetrue spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, to the maximumextent allowed by law, the scope of the present invention is to bedetermined by the broadest permissible interpretation of the followingclaims and their equivalents, and shall not be restricted or limited bythe foregoing detailed description.

1. A system comprising: an input to receive a request including atelephone number corresponding to a broadband data transport element;logic to map the telephone number to a port address of network equipmentassociated with the broadband data transport element and to poll aplurality of provisioning data for a plurality of deployed networkequipment to crosscheck provisioned assignment data used in connectionwith mapping the telephone number to the port address with fieldconfigurations of the plurality of deployed network equipment; and aperformance analysis tool to determine performance information based ondata collected from interrogating the broadband data transport element,wherein the data is collected via a wireline connection to the broadbanddata transport element.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the broadbanddata transport element comprises a digital subscriber line element. 3.The system of claim 2, wherein the network equipment comprises a digitalsubscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAM) and wherein the digitalsubscriber line element is located remotely from the DSLAM.
 4. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the broadband data transport elementcomprises a digital subscriber line element, wherein determiningperformance information associated with the broadband data transportelement includes receiving performance data associated with thebroadband data transport element in response to an interrogation requestand analyzing the performance data.
 5. The system of claim 4, furthercomprising an interface adapted to report the analyzed performance datato two or more remote entities concurrently.
 6. The system of claim 5,wherein a first entity of the two or more remote entities is an internetservice provider and a second entity of the two or more remote entitiesis a local exchange carrier.
 7. The system of claim 1, whereindetermining performance information associated with the broadband datatransport element includes identifying a faulty operation indicatorassociated with the broadband data transport element based onperformance data associated with the broadband data transport element.8. The system of claim 7, wherein the faulty operation indicatorcorresponds to a condition that reduces a data rate of the broadbanddata transport element, wherein the faulty operation indicator includesat least one of a bridge tap fault, a single frequency interferencefault, and a disturber circuit fault.
 9. The system of claim 1, whereinthe performance information associated with the broadband data transportelement comprises real-time performance testing information, wherein thebroadband data transport element is an asynchronous digital subscriberline (ADSL) modem.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the logic isadapted to generate provisioning status data based on the data collectedfrom interrogating the broadband data transport element, wherein theprovisioning status data is selected from a group consisting of poweredon, powered off, attempting to synchronize, and in synchronization. 11.The system of claim 1, wherein the logic is adapted to query aprovisioning database to provide a newly provisioned telephone numberassociated with the port address.
 12. A method comprising: receiving arequest including a telephone number corresponding to a broadband datatransport element; mapping the telephone number to a port address ofnetwork equipment associated with the broadband data transport element;determining performance information based on data collected frominterrogating the broadband data transport element, wherein the data iscollected via a wireline connection to the broadband data transportelement; sending a provisioning status request related to the portaddress to determine a provisioning status associated with the broadbanddata transport element; generating provisioning status data based onprovisioning data collected by interrogating the broadband datatransport element, wherein the provisioning status data includes circuitprovisioning parameters selected from one or more of equipment portstatus, cross connect status, alarm status, and in-service status;polling a plurality of provisioning data for a plurality of deployednetwork equipment to crosscheck provisioned assignment data used inconnection with mapping the telephone number to the port address withfield configurations of the plurality of deployed network equipment,wherein the plurality of deployed network equipment is located in ageographically diverse area including a plurality of different states;and generating at least one report including the performanceinformation.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein generating the at leastone report including the performance information comprises: generating afirst report including the performance information for display to afirst user associated with a first entity; and generating a secondreport including the performance information for display to a seconduser associated with a second entity.
 14. The method of claim 12,further comprising creating a log file to record historical troubleevents and comments, the log file accessible to a plurality ofoperational personnel working groups.
 15. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having instructions that, when executed by acomputer, cause the computer to: receive a request including a telephonenumber corresponding to a broadband data transport element; map thetelephone number to a port address of network equipment associated withthe broadband data transport element; determine performance informationbased on data collected from interrogating the broadband data transportelement, wherein the data is collected via a wireline connection to thebroadband data transport element; send a provisioning status requestrelated to the port address to determine a provisioning statusassociated with the broadband data transport element; generateprovisioning status data based on provisioning data collected byinterrogating the broadband data transport element, wherein theprovisioning status data includes circuit provisioning parametersselected from one or more of equipment port status, cross connectstatus, alarm status, and in-service status; and generate at least onereport including the performance information.
 16. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein determining theperformance information associated with the broadband data transportelement comprises identifying fault conditions associated with thebroadband data transport element.
 17. The system of claim 1, wherein thelogic is adapted to generate provisioning status data based on the datacollected by interrogating the broadband data transport element, whereinthe provisioning status data includes circuit provisioning parametersselected from one or more equipment port status, cross connect status,alarm status, and in-service status.
 18. The system of claim 17, whereinthe logic is further adapted to send a provisioning status request tothe port address of the network equipment to determine a provisioningstatus of the broadband data transport element.
 19. The system of claim17, wherein the plurality of deployed network equipment is located in ageographically diverse area including a plurality of different states.20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, furthercomprising instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause thecomputer to poll a plurality of provisioning data for a plurality ofdeployed network equipment to crosscheck provisioned assignment dataused in connection with mapping the telephone number to the port addresswith field configurations of the plurality of deployed networkequipment, wherein the plurality of deployed network equipment islocated in a geographically diverse area including a plurality ofdifferent states.